Empowering Austria to amend its existing bilateral road transport agreement with Switzerland with a view to authorising cabotage operations in the course of the provision of international road passenger transport services by coach and bus in the border regions between the two countries

Decision (EU) 2026/1769 empowers Austria to amend its 1958 bilateral road transport agreement with Switzerland in order to permit certain cabotage operations during international coach and bus services between the two countries’ border regions.

Authorisation for Cabotage Operations

Austria may amend the Austrian-Swiss Agreement to allow cabotage operations, meaning the carriage of passengers between two points within the territory of one contracting party by carriers established in the other party.

The authorisation applies only where cabotage takes place in the course of international passenger transport services by coach and bus between Austria and Switzerland. It is conditional on there being no discrimination against carriers established in the European Union and no distortion of competition.

The Decision reflects the Union’s exclusive external competence in this field, since commitments allowing Swiss carriers without a Community licence to carry out cabotage within the Union may affect the EU-Swiss Agreement and the rules governing the internal market for coach and bus services.

Geographical Scope

For the purposes of the authorisation, the Austrian border regions are the administrative districts of Bludenz, Bregenz, Dornbirn and Feldkirch in Vorarlberg, and Landeck in Tyrol.

Notification Requirements and Procedure

Austria must inform the European Commission when it amends the Austrian-Swiss Agreement and provide the text of the amended agreement. The Commission must then inform the European Parliament and the Council.

The Decision was adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, following the European Parliament’s position of 7 July 2026 and the Council’s decision of 13 July 2026. It was adopted on 14 July 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 17 July 2026. It is addressed to the Republic of Austria.

This summary was AI-generated and human-reviewed